When you think of the exciting addition of Luke Kennard to the Phoenix Suns next season, his 3-point shooting is clearly the first thing that comes to mind.
The former Los Angeles Laker led the entire league in this category last season (47.8 percent, although he could do with taking more each night), just like his predecessor and recently departed Grayson Allen also achieved in his first season in Phoenix.
Kennard won't be defensive weak point for Suns like Allen before him
It is lazy to say that Kennard is coming in as a like-for-like swap with Allen, particularly when he won't be starting. If anything he being tasked with also filling the gap left by another capable veteran in Royce O'Neale, although the Suns are surely hoping for a sophomore breakout from Rasheer Fleming.
When we think of Allen, after the 3-point shooting comes the underrated athleticism and, if we're being honest, a reputation as being a dirty player.
That wasn't on display too often with the Suns, and everybody loved how competitive he was. If anything he was an underrated defender, and in a lot of ways Kennard fits that bill as well.
Free agent sharpshooter Luke Kennard has agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Phoenix Suns, with a player option for the second season, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rXhDalEdhF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2026
Consider that last season as the Suns finished 9th in defensive rating (112.9), they were considerably worse when Allen was out there (116.9). The Lakers finished 20th (115.5), although they partly have injuries and a reliance on former Suns' big man Deandre Ayton to blame for that.
Kennard posted a similar defensive rating of 116.8, although if you take into account his time spent with the Atlanta Hawks, that number shrinks to 113.7. Make no mistake, the 30-year-old is not a plus defender and opponents are going to pick on him.
Lineups featuring Kennard and Jalen Green (and you can throw Devin Booker in there on certain nights) are going to get scored on badly, but at least the numbers give some hope that Kennard will be able to hold his own with certain matchups.
The hope would be for Bridges and Dillon Brooks to guard the stouter scorers, freeing Kennard up to try and stick with smaller guards. The problem there being that is where Green will also be hidden, but that is a problem for another day.
The Suns were always going to lose a sizeable part of their defensive identity when they gave up Allen and O'Neale, and Kennard alone can't fix that. But the hope is that he can hold his own just enough that coach Ott can still cobble together a league average defense.
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